Clemson Softball demolishes Northwestern, 15-2

From the very first batter Friday afternoon, Clemson softball pounded Northwestern pitching, pushing across 15 runs in five innings of work.

McKenzie Clark was that first batter and she deposited a pitch over the left field fence for a 1-0 lead before the record crowd of 1,982 fans got settled into their seats.

After Maddie Moore scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0, Aby Vieira hit a two-run shot to left center and the first inning ended with the score 4-0 in favor of the Tigers.

That was just the beginning for Clemson and the Tigers started the second inning off the same way, with graduate student Reedy Davenport going deep for a 5-0 lead and the route was on.

The Tigers went on to score 5 in the second inning and 4 more in the third to lead 13-2 after 3 innings, before scoring their final 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Valerie Cagle improved her record to 4-0 in the circle, giving up 2 runs in four innings of work, with Regan Spencer finishing the game with a shutout inning of work in the fifth.

The offensive barrage continued for Clemson, as the 7-0 Tigers have reached double-digit hits in every game this season, including those shortened by run rules like Friday’s game was.

Clemson totaled 15 hits on the day, with 3 each by Clark and Vieira.

Caroline Jacobsen led the Tigers with 3 RBI on the day as Northwestern fell to 2-3 with the loss.

Through the first 7 games Clemson is batting .442, slugging .789 and has an on base percentage of .506, while averaging 9.9 runs per game, while saddling opponent pitching staffs to a combined 14.06 ERA.

Conversely, the Tiger pitching staff has combined for a 1.43 ERA.

Clemson softball plays two games today in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge continues today with Clemson taking on Northwestern again at 3 p.m. before taking on Ohio State at 5:30.

The Tigers finish the Challenge by taking on Ohio State again on Sunday at 12:30.

All of the games can be seen on the ACCNX.